Press Room

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., June 25, 2003—Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN) today announced the launch of  “Industrial Advantage,” a new high-volume workforce management solution that improves and streamlines the process of hiring, training, integrating and managing flexible employees with light industrial skill sets. This comprehensive Spherion® service integrates assessment-based hiring, safety, diversity, training and productivity management to deliver an adaptable solution based on the specific requirements of clients in light industrial environments.

“We drew upon our 57 years of experience in workforce management to combine the advantages of our assessment-based hiring processes with safety and training programs to increase productivity and drive down costs,” said Robert Morgan, president of Spherion Employment Solutions. “We believe that addressing these critical factors in light industrial environments, where turnover rates and exposure to workers' compensation claims must be actively managed, provides a more productive workforce and creates a competitive advantage for both clients and ourselves."

Light industrial clients such as Mary Kay have realized quantifiable value from Spherion’s 24/7 support that flexibly adjusts to real-time production requirements for skilled workers. “Mary Kay has enjoyed tremendous growth throughout the past four years, due in part to the high quality of our more than 200 premium products in eight categories,” said Doug Mintmier, vice president of human resources, U.S. Operations for Mary Kay. “Our production environment of up to 27 lines per day is highly diverse and complex, and with Spherion’s support, we have achieved a very desirable 99.77 percent (production line) start rate. During peak times, Spherion has provided up to 50 percent of our total light industrial production workforce.”

Industrial Advantage helps to create a safe and productive work environment for flexible employees by providing orientation training, coaching and counseling and client-configured safety programs. Other components of the program include in-depth compliance audits and analyses to identify trends and develop appropriate resolutions.

Mintmier of Mary Kay continued, “We are proud of our safety and health record, and we are delighted that Mary Kay recently was re-certified as an Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star Worksite. With so many temporary personnel working in our facility, we couldn’t have achieved this prestigious certification without our strong partnering relationship with Spherion.”

Through Industrial Advantage, Spherion works with clients to ensure that flexible workers consistently meet productivity standards through effective management and its customizable performance and attendance tracking technologies. Clients have access to a wide range of reports that include on-demand measurements, a cumulative savings analysis based on quantitative measurements, and detailed industry comparisons.

Industrial Advantage also provides programs and tools to help manage diverse workforces. “Today’s workforce is truly a mosaic of different races, ages, genders, ethnic groups, religions and lifestyles,” Morgan continued. “Spherion’s Diversity Certification program was designed to increase productivity in the workplace by helping managers deal with day-to-day issues that can arise when people in the same workgroups speak different languages, come from different cultures, have different values or totally different life experiences.”

Spherion Corporation provides recruitment, technology and outsourcing services. Founded in 1946, with operations in North America , Central America , Europe and Asia/Pacific, Spherion helps companies efficiently plan, acquire and optimize talent to improve their bottom line. Visit the Company’s Web site at www.spherion.com.\